Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Eat Barcelona

It goes without saying that there are numerous wonderful restaurants in Barcelona. And I have been going there once a year for the past ten years, always for a 3-4 days. It is therefore challenging to find time to explore new restaurants during such a short visit; we are hard pressed to have enough time to visit all of our old favourites. There is a limit to how much one can eat...

Professor M would never skip a visit to this one, though: Pim Pam Plats (Rec 18). A man must have his burger, and this is usually the place we go to on our first evening in Barcelona. If burgers are not your cup of tea, the restaurant has several other dishes to choose from, either to eat in or take away.

Pim Pam Burger

In the mood for some "proper food" for dinner? We always try at least one restaurant we haven't been to before, and this one was conveniently just around the corner from our hotel:Big Fish (Carrer Comercial 9) offers a combination of contemporary Catalan and Japanese cuisine. The portions are not too big, so you can have an appetizer and a main course without feeling that you've overeaten. And you should definitely not skip the appetizers here: I had some really wonderful tuna with silky smooth avocado mousse...

If you are looking for a 3-course meal, Elx is an excellent fish restaurant in the otherwise quite run-of-the-mill Maremagnum shopping centre. There are a few meat options, too, but why waste this opportunity to have excellent Catalan fish dishes?

For tapas, or as they call them in Basque, 'pintxos', check out Txirimiri (Princesa 11). Basque specialities and good wine are the ingredients for an enjoyable evening here.

If you prefer a light lunch, how about the Mandarin Oriental on Passeig de Gracia?
The Blanc Brasserie & Gastrobar (Passeig de Gracia 38-40) serves tasty small dishes and delicious desserts in a very stylish setting where Catalan and Finnish design meet to create a unique space that is cool and elegant.

light lunch at Mandarin Oriental

Another great place for a light lunch is the quite busy and popular restaurant in the Mercat de Santa Caterina, Cuines de Santa Caterina. An extensive menu has something for everyone, from Asian to Mediterranean to fusion, from small snacks to several courses. Arrive early, though, as it fills up quite soon at lunchtime.

How about some coffee, tea, or maybe chocolate and churros? Well, there is no shortage of chocolate shops in Barcelona (read my earlier post here), but this little café caught my eye, mainly because of the lactose-free / gluten-free sign:

I guess they have a lot of Nordic customers... There were plenty of chocolate treats, and excellent coffee and tea (Petritxol Cafe, Carrer Petritxol 11).

18 comments

I've never been to Barcelona, but it is high on my must visit list so I will bookmark this page for reference. I could live on that light lunch you had in Mandarine the whole month! Wait, make it 2 months instead :)

It's a good few years since I visited Barcelona but it's on my list of places to visit again and when we get there I shall remember these recommendations as you have included a varied selection. Chocolate and churros, a favourite of mine as I have a sweet tooth!

So cool that you visit Barcelona once a year! It must be an awesome city! The market hall looks really interesting from the outside. I bet it's amazing inside too. I just love those halls where you can try everything you like and are surrounded by delicious foods and smells.... ;)

Well, compared to how impressive it looks from the outside, the indoor space is actually pretty much what you'd expect a market hall to look like. But the restaurant is really good. Yes, we go to Barcelona once a year, although it might be twice this year.. stay tuned...

As soon as I saw the title of this post I knew I would love it. You're speaking my language. I LOVED Barcelona when I was there. A friend asked me last night why everyone raves about it so much and I was like 'the food, the food, the food!'

Mmmm! I'll definitely keep these places in mind for the next time I visit Barcelona. Here in Madrid there's also a Basque bar called Txirimiri and it's one of my faves in the city. You can never go wrong with pintxos!